Hello Guys,

I am fairly new to this forum but I am an experienced reloader and I have a bunch of good rifles. I just bought a new rifle in .280. It is one of the calibers I have never messed with. It's a stainless Encore with a 24" barrel. I am going to mount a silver 3 x 9 scope and make it a Texas whitetail rig. I have read a lot on here about powder and some seem to prefer RL-22 for the .280. I want good velocity and good accuracy. Accuracy is the most important thing, no doubt. I have used a lot of RL-7 and RL-15 but have never tried RL-22. I do like all of the "log" powders and have almost all the powders that Hodgdon makes. What is your favorite powder hands down for the .280? I am starting with a clean slate. Thanks to all. This is a great forum. Let's keep it alive! BT

I'd say RL22 is a good choice, especially for the 150-160gr pills. H4831SC is also a very good choice. For shooting 140's, my rifles do better in the velocity and accuracy department with RL19. Vihtavuori N165 is another powder you might try.

Kevin

For 140-160grn bullets, I like IMR4831 the best, and it is the last powder I tested in two different 280's. H4831sc drove me nuts with low velocity and poor groups. R-22 was very good. IMR7828ssc worked very well with bullets over 150grn.

RL 22 may be worth a try. In my 280 though so far I've seemed to have better results with RL 19 and IMR 4831. I want to work with 22 more as I've had excellent results with it in 3 270s.

With 160 gr bullets I started with IMR 4831 and went no further, accuracy was fantastic.

For 120's, RL15 & H4350
For 140's - 160's, RL22 & Norma MRP

I'm not a big fan of H4831 or IMR-4831 but both can be good.

RL19 on the 280, does nothing that '22 won't generall do better.

MM

RL19 and IMR4831 work in mine. Ramshot Hunter is showing promise.

Others may be as good depending on your rifle,but RL22 has worked best for me.

With 140gr bullets, my best powders were IMR4350, RL19 and IMR4831 in that order. I had a real good load with IMR4831 and a 154gr Hornady SP too. I never tried RL22 so I cannot comment on that powder. There are a lot of good ones...

RH

RL 19 has always worked great for me in the numerous 280s

I have loaded 55grs of 4350 behind the 140gr TSX and BTs, in mine, and have very good accuracy, and recently returned from a cull hunt in Namibia where I killed 15 head of game with this load, and no problems*. I have shot the R19 also and got extremely good accuracy (5 shots in less than half an inch). I also have some loads listed in my chrono results with 4831, but didn't use it this trip. The primary reason I used 4350 on this trip, is that I had the rifle sighted in with this powder and load, and didn't have time to resight it with another load, as taking it in the first place was an "emergency" proposition, as the rifle I was going to take, got a broken extractor just before I left.

*shots ranged from 200-400 yards. Most were in the 250-350 range.

With 120 grain bullets, I have had the most success with H4350 S/C.

With 140 grainers, RL22 gave the highest velocity. H4831 S/C is about 50 fps slower, but usually more accurate. Sometimes significantly so. It's also much more consistent, accuracy and especially velocity wise, at widely varying temperatures.

With 150-162 grain bullets, IMR7828 gave by far the highest velocities, but again H4831 S/C was the best all-around performer.

I've had great results with 139gr bullets and IMR 4831 and more recently, H-4350.

Yeah, about 58.0 H4831sc/150 Partition woked in my .280. No problems. Tom

RickF: You mentioned H4350sc. Are you sure? I have not seen that yet, but I would give it a try. Thanks. Tom

As big a fan as I am of RL22, I'm surprised I did so well with 19, I've never been sold on it and always though along the lines you do as compared to 22. But I also haven't worked much with 22 in it but MRP did surprisingly well with some decent velocities. As Marc mentioned, I'm seeing some good potential in Hunter as well.

Tom, it's not called SC but the H4350 Extreme has short kernels that meter great. It wouldn't surprise me to see it be the perfect powder in a 280, especially with 120-140 grain bullets.

M1 my problem with Hunter is I ran out and the local places don't know when they will have anymore!

With 140 and 154 grain bullets, I've had good results with IMR 4350.

Good enough for me. Thanks RickF. Tom

One brand or another of 4350.

Ramshot Hunter. Meters far better than IMR 4350, IMR 4831 or Re-19.
Probably H4350 in 2nd place. H4831 for bullets 154 grs. and heavier. E

RE-17 worked for me with 139 gr Hornadys. Accuracy was good and speed was good I thought.

Been working with Hunter in acouple of other rifles[a 30-06 and270 Win], and this is working real well. Will let you know. Tom

I am getting 3,308fps from the 120gr BT in my .280 using 58.5gr of RL17 and 3,267fps using 58.0gr. I have only checked the speed on these loads not checked for accuracy, hope they shoot good. RL17 might just give me .280AI speeds with my standard .280.

I had that same problem. I had bought the original can a while back and it seemed to become really popular and I couldn't find it anywhere, even online. I was at Cabela's here a couple of months ago and they had a couple of cans, so I lucked out.

Another vote for either of the 4831s, my .280s have loved that powder with 154 gr. Hornady SP

FWIW-

Today, I loaded up some .280 ammo, with some IMR 4350 powder I had on hand, and some CT Tech Ballistic Silvertip bullets, 140 gr. I started with 53.5 gr., a grain or two below most reloading manuals.

well- this load is SCARY accurate! after shooting several three shot, one hole groups, I made some minor tweaks to the scope, and went home with a big smile on my face.

I have no clue as to MV, I would guess around 2900 fps out of my rifle.

Whitetail in the freezer this year!!!

I have two Encore 24" Stainless barrels. They are daylight & dark. One of them, as stated above, drove me crazy with poor accuracy & slow velocities using H4831SC. THe other shoots under and inch with the same load. For the barrel I do use, I shoot 58 gr's of H4831SC, CCI 200 & Nosler 140 AB's. I suggest RL19, H4831SC & RL22, in that order.

Not much you can't do with a good 280.

+1

IMR4350 and IMR4831 have worked well for me.

bt53

Reloader 22

WN

Thanks guys. I have just about all these powders. I will let you know. BT

Thnks for your help and advice guys! BT